Cops that always harass us!!

[Andykev]

Recently, California ran an e-mail forum (a question
and answer exchange) where the topic was "Policing
the Community." One of the civilian email
participants posed the following question: "I would
like to know how it is possible for police officers
to continually harass people and get away with it?"

From the "other side" (the law enforcement side) a
cool cop with a sense of humor replied:

It is not easy. In California we average one cop
for every 2,000 people. About 60% of those cops are
on patrol, where we do most of the harassing.
One-fifth of that 60% are on duty at any given
moment and are available for harassing people. So,
one cop is responsible for harassing about 10,000
residents. When you toss in the commercial,
business and tourist locations that attract people
from other areas, sometimes you have a situation
where a single cop is responsible for harassing
20,000 or more people each day.

A ten-hour shift runs 36,000 seconds. This gives a
cop one second to harass a person, and three-fourths
of a second to eat a donut AND then find a new
person to harass. This is not an easy task. Most
cops are not up to it, day in and day out. It is
just too tiring. What we do is utilize some tools
to help us narrow down those people which we harass.
They are as follows:

PHONE: People will call us up and point out things
that cause us to focus on a person for special
harassment. "My neighbor is beating his wife" is a
code phrase we use. Then we come out and give
special harassment. Another popular one on a
weeknight is, "The kids next door are having a loud
party."

CARS: We have special cops assigned to harass
people who drive. They like to harass the drivers
of fast cars, cars blasting music, cars with expired
registration stickers and the like. It is lots of
fun when you pick them out of traffic for nothing
more obvious than running a red light.
Sometimes you get to really heap the harassment on
when you find they have drugs in the car, are
driving drunk, or they have an outstanding warrant.

RUNNERS: Some people take off running just at the
sight of a police officer. Nothing is quite as
satisfying as running after them like a beagle on
the scent of a bunny. When you catch them you can
harass them for hours.

CODES: When you can think of nothing else to do,
there are books that give ideas for reasons to
harass folks. They are called "Codes" - Penal,
Vehicle, Health and Safety, Business and
Professional Codes, to name a few. They spell out
all sorts of things for which you can really mess
with people. After you read the code, you can just
drive around for a while until you find someone
violating one of these listed offenses and harass
them. Just last week I saw a guy smash a car
window. Well, the code says that is not allowed.
That meant I got permission to harass this guy,
It is a pretty cool system that we have set up, and
it works pretty well.

We seem to have a never-ending supply of folks to
harass. And we get away with it. Why? Because
the good citizens who pay the tab actually like the
fact that we keep the streets safe for them. Next
time you are in my town, give me a single finger
wave. That will be a signal that you wish for me to
take a little closer look at you, and then maybe
I'll find a reason to harass YOU.

Looking forward to meeting you!

 

[Chamorro]

Priceless!

 

[SpykiE]

That is very interesting in the manner in which that officer replied. He/she states some very real facts and backs those up with some very real situations, but does it in such a way that is a very thin line between contemptuous and completely serious. It is obviously not what that person who asked the question would like to see or hear, however, that is often a response you can expect to receive when stereotyping or when making assumptions about the whole of any type of organization such as this. I mean, look at the NRA, they didn't get by and survive for as long as they have simply by defending themselves, there are many many people in this country who are not involved in the NRA who are still fully supportive of the organization, and speak out against those that think otherwise(BECAUSE those others make assumptions, just like that person did). There may be a few bad apples in the whole of the NRA, but it doesn't mean that all NRA members are going to be using urban environments as their shooting galleries, and the same goes for the police force in which this man was attacking, with his ignorant harassment statement/question. So in response to the person who posed the uninformed question to the police force, I have only this to say:

"The ignorant classes are the dangerous classes" - Henry Ward Beecher

So with that said, I think I have stated my opinion on this matter enough....

Brad

 

[The Mad Hatter]

The best way to eliminate crime is to legalize everything.

(Seriously, the Taoist religion postulates someting very much to that effect.)

For some reason, the American public, notwithstanding the experience of Prohibition, feels a great need to criminalize narcotics, thereby artifically making them expensive and inducing robbery and other criminal behavior.

The justification for this is the alleged adverse health effects ( which also apply to tobacco and alcohol ) and the very criminal conduct which has been provoked. Interestingly, drugs used by young black males, such as crack, are viewed more seriously than drugs used by middle-class white women, such as valium.

Perhaps if we simply assumed that if somebody wants to go to hell in a handbasket with dope, that is his problem and not one for criminal enforcement.

Enforcing the drug laws, by its nature, is very intrusive. Many of the problems with police invasions of privacy revolve around this. Asset forfeiture, the seisure of private property, is an unknown but serious aspect of drug enforcement. You can be aquited of a drug crime but still suffer the loss of your property. This has become a bonanza for police departments, whch pocket the funds.

The simple logic of the above points should have resulted in the legalizaton of narcotics decades ago. Therefore it seems that the need to criminalize them gratifies some basic urge.

Oh, yes, all this police work and prison life is very expensive. Police department budgets are very expensive also. If you are annoyed with the police departments, going after their budgets is a good place to start.

 

[Retro Grouch]

Looking forward to meeting you!

I feel left out. :knocking on wood:

Good article.

The best way to eliminate crime is to legalize everything.

Perhaps if we simply assumed that if somebody wants to go to hell in a handbasket with dope, that is his problem and not one for criminal enforcement.

Enforcing the drug laws, by its nature, is very intrusive. Many of the problems with police invasions of privacy revolve around this. Asset forfeiture, the seisure of private property, is an unknown but serious aspect of drug enforcement. You can be aquited of a drug crime but still suffer the loss of your property. This has become a bonanza for police departments, whch pocket the funds.

Oh, yes, all this police work and prison life is very expensive. Police department budgets are very expensive also. If you are annoyed with the police departments, going after their budgets is a good place to start.

MH,

Have you read this book? If not, I recommend it. It adds some other ideas to your argument.

Drug War Addiction

Tom

 

[Imahomer]

Funny. I usually blow that stuff off. It's nice to see someone respond to that sillyness.

 

[Michaelson]

I will be turning 50 this May. I have been driving since I was 16. To date, I have never received a ticket for anything, speeding or otherwise. I HAVE been stopped once by a local policeman....and only to be asked where I had purchased the Akubra Federation Deluxe fedora I had on at the time, and that it had apparently been a topic of discussion in the police break room. (they knew my car. That's when I was driving my old Volvo.).

So, from a law abiding driver who wears a fedora everyday while driving on the road...God Bless all our law enforcement officers. You have my deepest respect, especially those who were interested enough in a Fedora to stop a motorist to ask. High regards. Michaelson

 

[binkmeisterRick]

(Note to self: write the county police and tell all the cops I'll make a huge monetary donation if they give Michaelson a dozen traffic tickets over the course of the next week.) [angel]

bink

 

[Michaelson]

As long as they spell your name right when they fill the tickets out, I'm fine with that....Regards. Michaelson

 

[binkmeisterRick]

Ummmm.... on second thought, didn't I mean to spell that "c-o-f-f-e-d-u-d-e?"

 

[Michaelson]

That's the name I was thinking..... :cheers1: Regards. Michaelson

 

[Andykev]

HA

I will be turning 50 this May. I have been driving since I was 16. To date, I have never received a ticket for anything, speeding or otherwise.

Who would expect YOU to speed driving THAT old car!?

Likely it has become slower each year since you drove it NEW back when you were 16!!
I have a clue that the car, plus the hat, you might have some other speedy motorist think "hey gramps, pull it over!".

 

[Michaelson]

Hey there, Andy....downhill with a tailwind, I can get it up to, well, at least 60! Not BAD for a 95 hp 3600 pound car! Like I heard once, I can make that car go 0-60 in 5 miles! Actually, it's kind of fun passing folks who are going less than the posted speed limit in that locomotive. I've actually seen folks drive off the road watching me pull away! Regards. Michaelson

 

[jamespowers]

Sort of funny to see the dopes that think they can pass you easily find out real fast that you are not exactly slow.
Just my experience with my truck.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Michaelson]

Not to pull this string so far afield, but what 'bugs' me is when you find yourself in a rolling parade. You know...folks who are doing a slow drive by to look the car over from back to front, essentially blocking you from any turns or the like as they're to busy looking the car over to even notice what's going on in traffic! Witnessed a small fender bender one day last summer when a car load of kids were doing that and drove into the back of a stopped car in the other lane next to me. Regards. Michaelson

 

[binkmeisterRick]

I always knew you were a road hazzard.

bink

 

[Slicksuit]

The best way to eliminate crime is to legalize everything.

(Seriously, the Taoist religion postulates someting very much to that effect.)

For some reason, the American public, notwithstanding the experience of Prohibition, feels a great need to criminalize narcotics, thereby artifically making them expensive and inducing robbery and other criminal behavior.

The justification for this is the alleged adverse health effects ( which also apply to tobacco and alcohol ) and the very criminal conduct which has been provoked. Interestingly, drugs used by young black males, such as crack, are viewed more seriously than drugs used by middle-class white women, such as valium.

Perhaps if we simply assumed that if somebody wants to go to hell in a handbasket with dope, that is his problem and not one for criminal enforcement.

Enforcing the drug laws, by its nature, is very intrusive. Many of the problems with police invasions of privacy revolve around this. Asset forfeiture, the seisure of private property, is an unknown but serious aspect of drug enforcement. You can be aquited of a drug crime but still suffer the loss of your property. This has become a bonanza for police departments, whch pocket the funds.

The simple logic of the above points should have resulted in the legalizaton of narcotics decades ago. Therefore it seems that the need to criminalize them gratifies some basic urge.

Oh, yes, all this police work and prison life is very expensive. Police department budgets are very expensive also. If you are annoyed with the police departments, going after their budgets is a good place to start.

Very well said. I think that this country has a particularly odd stance with marijuana. I personally don't use it, but have no problem with it. I think that many of this country's problems with it stem from all the propaganda public service announcements from the early 20th century. Have you seen those things? Quite a scary, and false, picture they present. I also think that the public had a special perception of the stuff at that time because it was associated with Latino and African American communities. Long-term/life sentences for minor marijuana possession are just plain silly.

There was a report I read the other day about the C.I.A. knowingly resisting attempts of a particular drug that alleviates withdrawal symptoms for cocaine, crack, and the like. It is currently under scientific study from a researcher that got private funding to do so. It's an interesting propositon that the government has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. It's an indisputable fact that drug convictions disproportionately affect minorities.

I could go on and on - the special status of tobacco and alcohol in society, the fact that a drug has no intrinsic 'goodness or badness', the actions our government has done to knowingly look the other way when we need the help of mercenaries in other countries, like Nicrauaga and Afganistan, when we know those mercenaries also profit from the drug trade . I would recommend anyone intrested in the subject to read any of a number of books on the subject.

 

[BellyTank]

So you'd recommend that I should read any of a number of books on the subject? That's very helpful indeed....
...but could you be a little more specific in your reading list?
...he...hehe.... Oreo anyone?

The CIA aren't they the ones who administer the illegal sale of narcotics in the US?

BT.

 

[Mycroft]

Every so often in my town, we have the county shariff as our police, they go on a "spree" of staking out on the side of the road etc., just to give tickets and they do. They are not very nice either. I think they have a ticket "quota" and/or also to get bonuses for the tickets.

 

[Slicksuit]

Bellytank - Sorry for not writing my book recommendations. There is one in particular that I would recommend: Smoke and Mirrors:The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure (Dan Baum)
Other books that I haven't read yet, but that I find interesting:
The pursuit of oblivion : a global history of narcotics Davenport-Hines
Forces of habit : drugs and the making of the modern world David Courtright
Drugs, Oil, and War: The United States in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Indochina Peter Dale Scott

I have also studied the phenomenon from a psychological standpoint (for both illicit and non-illicit drugs) during the pursuit of my degree, and I was a research assistant for 4 years for a project that examined drug abuse among pregnant mothers.
One interesting fact - caffeine is the most pervasive drug on the globe. It is present in virtually all cultures and consumed by nearly all age groups.

Let me stress that I do not necessarily promote some type of utopian idea of safe and unregulated access to drugs. I do feel, however, that America's drug policy is misguided, ill-informed, and perpetuated by old habits.